A new chapter in Dahlan’s new battle to topple Abbas

January 16th, 2015

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Mohammed Dahlan representing himself as an alternative to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Mohammed Dahlan representing himself as an alternative to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Between the confirmation of the dismissed Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan that he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi to open the Rafah crossing and the Palestinian leadership’s denial that such a meeting ever occurred, another battle, led by Dahlan, is waged.

He is representing himself as an alternative to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, amid signals from Tel Aviv pointing in the same direction. The most recent of these signals was the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s call for “the need to get rid of” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, considering him “an obstacle hindering the chances of reaching a political settlement”, and accusing him of “political terrorism” against Israel. Lieberman claimed that “Abu Mazen ordered the investigation against Salam Fayyad and Yasser Abed Rabbo simply because the two have directed criticisms at him.”

Last week, Israeli newspapers revealed that a series of meetings were held between Lieberman and Dahlan in several European capitals over the past year. These meetings addressed the issue of replacing Abbas and ousting him from his position as president of the Palestinian Authority.

To complement Dahlan’s return, successive statements have been made by the man and his aides regarding his meeting with the Egyptian leadership. The most recent of these statements was made last Monday when Dahlan stressed that “in spite of dark terrorism and its heinous crimes, the Rafah crossing will open in the next few days. I can confirm this after the contact I have had this morning with my brothers in Egypt.”

His wife, Jalila Dahlan, has also been making tours and acting like a first lady. She visited the Gaza Strip where she presented financial grants to hundreds of young unemployed Gazans to help them get married. She gave these grants after losing hope that the government or Palestinian factions would lend them a hand.

Dahlan’s actions drew some accusations from Abbas’s circles against Hamas, saying that Dahlan would not have represented himself as an alternative to Abbas if it weren’t for “facilitation” from the Islamic Resistance Movement for his actions, owing to the fact that he has abundant funds and close ties with the Egyptian leadership and some Gulf capitals.

Dahlan’s tools are: abundant money and internal political relationships with President Abbas’s competitors based on Abbas’s mistakes and his monopoly of political decisions. There are also regional political relations that Dahlan succeeded in forging.

The Fatah members who accuse Hamas of providing a cover for Dahlan and his movement have examples that they continue to reiterate, but they prefer to remain anonymous because they consider this matter to be very sensitive. A source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper that “it is ironic that Hamas security officers searched the national unity government’s delegation which recently visited the Gaza Strip through Al-Karama crossing between Palestine and Egypt, controlled by the Israeli occupation. They then reached the Beit Hanoun crossing”. He also noted that “Jalila Dahlan was moving around Gaza with the protection of Hamas security.”

Dahlan’s statements on Monday about his “efforts” gave good news regarding opening the Rafah crossing for the people of Gaza in the next few days, which will benefit students, those who are ill, and those with foreign passports who have been stranded in the Gaza Strip. The number of those stranded is estimated at 40,000. It also indicated future plans, as he announced that “opening the crossing to enable students, the sick, Palestinians living abroad, and those with foreign passports to cross is just one step in a series of measures approved by the Egyptian leadership during my last visit to Egypt. These measures will ease the burden imposed on the people in the Gaza Strip and soon, a delegation of businessmen will visit the Gaza Strip to discuss ways to facilitate trade, allow supplies to enter, and provide aid to the Gaza Strip.”

The political adviser to the Palestinian presidency, Nimer Hammad, denied reports that Dahlan received access to Al-Sisi after the Palestinian leadership spoke to their Egyptian counterparts.

During a phone conversation with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the Palestinian ambassador to Egypt, Jamal Al-Shobaki, denied the meeting saying: “No Egyptian media outlet reported this meeting. All of President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi’s meetings receive wide media coverage.”

With regards to whether Dahlan met with the head of the Egyptian intelligence service or any other leaders in the decision-making circle, the ambassador said: “I have no knowledge of this.” It is a well-known fact that Dahlan has strategic relations with Al-Sisi, who receives support from the UAE and Saudi Arabia on a large scale. Dahlan attacked Abbas on Egypt’s Dream 2 television channel last March, in addition to dozens of other Egyptian channels and websites that hosted him and promote him.

Fatah’s Revolutionary Council Secretary-General Amin Makboul said that Dahlan’s recent statements were in the context of his attempt to “establish himself as a member of Fatah, from which he was dismissed. He is also using these comments as part of his political power struggle and as a means to impose his presence. This is due to the fact that he receiving unlimited backing from an Arab state.”

Makboul told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “What Dahlan is currently doing is sending messages in various directions at the same time. He is sending a power struggle message to the Palestinian leadership, and sending other messages to the Israeli occupation and the US administration that he is present and can act as a replacement for Abu Mazen.”

He also stressed: “The presence of Dahlan as a replacement for Abbas or in a senior Palestinian position will never happen because the man is involved in a $100 million corruption case and in a murder case that still hasn’t been opened.”

Another source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “There is an Israeli decision that implicitly provides for the replacement of Abu Mazen with another president. There is also a large incitement campaign against him, especially after he decided to join the International Criminal Court.”

The source also pointed out that “we cannot isolate what Dahlan says about the explicit American threats made by Foreign Minister John Kerry recently to President Abbas, threatening that he would lose his power and his people and that there is a Palestinian uprising coming against him.”

He explained that “Israel’s Channel 10 recently conducted an investigative journalism report in Palestinian refugee camps, which were considered to be the centre of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. The Israeli journalist was blaming the Palestinian Authority for the situation suffered by the refugees in camps, including marginalisation, poverty, unemployment and the spread of drugs. It was his way of disgustingly inciting against the Palestinian Authority and its president.”

With regards to the capacity in which Dahlan is taking action, writer and political analyst Khalil Shaheen told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “The capacity in which Dahlan is acting is unknown. No one knowns if he is acting in the capacity of a former Palestinian official, a Palestinian official with future aspirations, or as a consultant for another Arab country.” He added: “We haven’t heard a definite position from the Egyptians regarding the capacity in which he was received.”

Shaheen added: “No one can take up a role unless there is a vacuum. The absence of the PA and national unity government’s role in addressing key issues in the Gaza Strip due to Hamas’s failure to interact with the national unity government and facilitate its work and in light of a number of field disputes, this allows alliances to be formed and the activation of some positions and roles to fill the vacuum caused by Rami Hamdallah’s government.

Shaheen describes the current Palestinian situation as “fragmented and multi-faceted”, noting that “everyone claims that they represent legitimacy despite the fact that according to the law, that is not the case. According to the law, the legal legitimacy of the Legislative Council and President Mahmoud Abbas ended due to the absence of elections and democratic life. This has allowed some Arab countries to deal with the existing Palestinian facets based on their own interests.”